Renée Soutendijk

Soutendijk was born in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands, on 21 May 1957.[5][6] In her youth, Soutendijk was a qualifying Olympic gymnast.[7] She studied acting at the Academy for Podium Formation in The Hague.[8]

Soutendijk made her television debut in the Dutch television series Dagboek van een herdershond (English: Dutch the Shepherd Dog (1979–1980).[8] She began her film career playing the heroines in the Paul Verhoeven-directed cult films Spetters (1980)[9] and The Fourth Man (1983). Spetters established her as a sex symbol; the movie and its star attracted attention in the United States as well,[10] and The New York Times saw her "stylish performance" of a "compelling character" as a focal point of the movie.[11] In the early 1980s, Soutendijk, Monique van de Ven, and Willeke van Ammelrooy were the three best-known actresses in Dutch cinema, and most Dutch movies featured one of the three.[1] The movie that marked her breakthrough as an actress in a major role, though, is considered to be The Girl with the Red Hair (1981), in which she played Dutch resistance fighter Hannie Schaft.[12] From 1981 to 1989 she played in Zeg 'ns Aaa, one of the longest-running and most popular Dutch sitcoms. In 1983, Soutendijk gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Caro.[8]

Soutendijk and Jeroen Krabbé promoting The Fourth Man, 1983

Soutendijk's first English-language role was as Eva Braun in the made-for-TV movie Inside the Third Reich. Her subsequent TV movie roles included Anna Mons in Peter the Great (1986) and Mrs. Simon Wiesenthal in Murderers Among Us (1989).[13] She sought a career in Hollywood and lived in the United States for a year and a half. She played opposite Academy Award nominee Chris Sarandon in the Holocaust-themed movie Forced March (1989), and the title character in Eve of Destruction (1991), in which she portrayed an android opposite Gregory Hines.[14]

In the late 1990s she played in another Dutch film (De Flat).[15] She also acted in German television movies (and series, including Tatort) in which, she said, she was rarely typecast and played more interesting characters.[1] In 1996, she gave birth to her son, Jaïr.[8] The films Dial 9 and Met grote blijdschap (With Great Joy), which were both released in 2001, marked her return to the Dutch movie-screen after a four-year absence.[1]

Soutendijk subsequently played roles in television shows and as a stage actress, playing for instance Queen Juliana (2006)[16] and a woman dying of cancer in Margaret Edson's Wit (2010).[17][18][19] In 2011, Soutendijk was given the Rembrandt Award for her body of work.[20] That same year, news came that Soutendijk was to star in a television series for RTL 4, Moordvrouw, a police drama.[21][22] In 2018, Soutendijk had a supporting role in Luca Guadagnino's Suspiria, a reimagining of the Dario Argento film of the same name.[23]

She appeared in the 2022 photography game show Het perfecte plaatje.[24][25]

In September 2023 Soutendijk was the recipient of Golden Calf for Best Leading Role (the most important Dutch film award) for her main role in the critically acclaimed film Sweet Dreams.[26]